AC Milan match reaction

[Niall_Quinn]

Tbf I was struggling to find a stream so I might have missed a few bits, I saw one time they break through and Ospina could have conceded a pel although I don't think he touched him and it would have been harsh.
The BBC says they had 16 shots but only one on target which does sound like they were pretty erratic and should have scored more, from actually watching the game though it didn't feel like that.
We seemed to pretty much be controlling the game. They could have scored a couple of goals, we could have scored more too though.
Overall the assertion that they could and should have hammered us, as I may have intimated, bullshit.

We didn't control a single moment of that game. Everything that's going on this morning is pure fantasy. It's the legacy media rallying (in relief) for their long standing mate Wenger, and the poor old fans lapping it up as usual.

Our midfield was useless. Jack had a shocker. Xhaka improved, but only because he started kicking people (which I heartily approve of, btw) and Ramsey was nothing at all, apart from one moment where he mysteriously retained his composure in front of goal - that bit was excellent. Otherwise we were beaten to the ball time and time again. We can't win headers in the middle. We always seem to be marking empty space when the ball bounces. It's such an easy job for the opposition to pick the ball up. Fortunately Milan didn't know what to do with it and rapidly gave it back.

Defensively we were a little better, but only because we had so much time. Milan didn't threaten up front except on the few occasions when they casually passed through us, which any team can seemingly do at will these days. Kos and Mustafi were supposed to be back to their best, but what really happened is they ran around a lot, dashing to cover spaces they should already have been covering in the first place. Chambers is being lauded for being not as bad as people thought he was going to be. Kolasinac has lost all the fire he had when he joined and now looks like a very average player. AMN was by far the best and most composed player when he came on. That's because he hasn't had enough time in Wenger's system yet and still retains the basics of the game.

Ozil and Mikki were okay, mainly because they were under so little pressure and had so much time on the ball. Ozil's pass for the second goal was great, of course. Welbeck was the ongoing comedy sketch that we all know and would even love (if he were playing for somebody else). The pundits are genuinely trying to pretend he played well. It's hard to imagine anyone could buy into it, but it seems people are.

Anyway, that's what actually happened. For some reason Gattuso played the ideal game for us. No pressure. No pressing. No pace. We were all set up to sit back and soak it up, which we wouldn't have managed at all if Milan had anything about them. As it turned out, by accident, these were the perfect tactics because we have talented enough players to at least make a few chances and last night those players managed to take the chances rather than fluff them. So Wenger was probably the star of the night, by pure luck.

He's a very luck manager. What's the one "big" game that even he can get something from these days? A victory against AC Milan in the San Siro. A deadbeat Milan, but all the wow-factor and history is still there. And that's what we're milking up today. Meanwhile, make no mistake, this tie is not over. It is easily within our grasp to fuck this up at home. So the dangerous talk of winning the tournament and being favourites is desperately premature. Let's just finish this game off first and not be the complacent, assuming team that has had its arse handed to it on too many occasions.

Do we want to win? What an indictment of the manager, that some fans would actually prefer to lose everything if it meant he goes. It's a horrible catch-22 for me. If he stays he might just ruin us for another decade, no matter who we bring in to replace him. And if he gets the slightest sniff of a reason to stay, he'll stay. And if he wins a Euro competition and gets us back in the CL you just know what the journos are going to write and what the fans are going to believe. We are in a terrible situation. We need to win, but we can't afford the catastrophic consequences of winning. How did we ever get to this?

So here we are. We've conquered European legends on their own famous patch and Wenger is back at the height of his powers. Says so in the papers so it must be true.

In reality we're still up to our necks in it. It's just we haven't drowned yet. If things go according to the boring and endless plan we go from triumph to calamity against Watford. Watford won't be sitting back and admiring us like Milan did, they'll be right in our faces. If the team stands up to that, THEN it will be signs of progress. The game last night though? It was a relief not to be humiliated. That's what most thought was going to happen going into the game. And that's what people are really talking about this morning I think. Relief.

Whew. We're still alive.

And that's what it comes to. That's what signifies success at this place. We're not dead yet.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Tbf I was struggling to find a stream so I might have missed a few bits, I saw one time they break through and Ospina could have conceded a pel although I don't think he touched him and it would have been harsh.
The BBC says they had 16 shots but only one on target which does sound like they were pretty erratic and should have scored more, from actually watching the game though it didn't feel like that.
We seemed to pretty much be controlling the game. They could have scored a couple of goals, we could have scored more too though.
Overall the assertion that they could and should have hammered is, as I may have intimated, bullshit.

Yeh I was going to say that, they did have 16 shots on goal, but they were shocking misses tbh.

We did play well and I am not taking that away from us at all, but had Meeeelan performed better in front of goal, it could have been a very different outcome.

I didn't say they would have hammered us as we would have scored our fair share also, but they could have been winners if they weren't so hilariously bad.

I also don't want to get caught up in a win against an admittedly poor Meeelan side. They over ran our midfield whenever they wanted to and managed 16 shots, that doesn't reflect us 'dominating'

We upped our performance, and quite rightly, the team gave a shit about a worthwhile cup tournament. But beyond that it certainly wasn't stunning.

[Özim]

Not being funny but Milan are rubbish, as expected though we're seeing nonsense coming out from Wenger and co about how wonderful we are, it's the usual BS we get after a mickey mouse win after an awful run, it's cringeworthy.

If anyone is feeling like this was a good achievement they need to have a word with themselves, you could predicted Milan were rubbish (I did) based on where they lie in a weak league so it's no surprise we won there.

Some people need a reality check.

[Letters]

You're right, you're not being funny

[Niall_Quinn]

Not being funny but Milan are rubbish, as expected though we're seeing nonsense coming out from Wenger and co about how wonderful we are, it's the usual BS we get after a mickey mouse win after an awful run, it's cringeworthy.

If anyone is feeling like this was a good achievement they need to have a word with themselves, you could predicted Milan were rubbish (I did) based on where they lie in a weak league so it's no surprise we won there.

Some people need a reality check.

I think it was a good achievement by the barrel scraping standards Wenger sets these days. Even against a Milan team like that, even against Gattuso's bizarre tactics, we've played badly enough this season to have lost that. So I'm afraid what happened last night does constitute achievement.

[KSE Comedy Club]

We didn't control a single moment of that game. Everything that's going on this morning is pure fantasy. It's the legacy media rallying (in relief) for their long standing mate Wenger, and the poor old fans lapping it up as usual.

Our midfield was useless. Jack had a shocker. Xhaka improved, but only because he started kicking people (which I heartily approve of, btw) and Ramsey was nothing at all, apart from one moment where he mysteriously retained his composure in front of goal - that bit was excellent. Otherwise we were beaten to the ball time and time again. We can't win headers in the middle. We always seem to be marking empty space when the ball bounces. It's such an easy job for the opposition to pick the ball up. Fortunately Milan didn't know what to do with it and rapidly gave it back.

Defensively we were a little better, but only because we had so much time. Milan didn't threaten up front except on the few occasions when they casually passed through us, which any team can seemingly do at will these days. Kos and Mustafi were supposed to be back to their best, but what really happened is they ran around a lot, dashing to cover spaces they should already have been covering in the first place. Chambers is being lauded for being not as bad as people thought he was going to be. Kolasinac has lost all the fire he had when he joined and now looks like a very average player. AMN was by far the best and most composed player when he came on. That's because he hasn't had enough time in Wenger's system yet and still retains the basics of the game.

Ozil and Mikki were okay, mainly because they were under so little pressure and had so much time on the ball. Ozil's pass for the second goal was great, of course. Welbeck was the ongoing comedy sketch that we all know and would even love (if he were playing for somebody else). The pundits are genuinely trying to pretend he played well. It's hard to imagine anyone could buy into it, but it seems people are.

Anyway, that's what actually happened. For some reason Gattuso played the ideal game for us. No pressure. No pressing. No pace. We were all set up to sit back and soak it up, which we wouldn't have managed at all if Milan had anything about them. As it turned out, by accident, these were the perfect tactics because we have talented enough players to at least make a few chances and last night those players managed to take the chances rather than fluff them. So Wenger was probably the star of the night, by pure luck.

He's a very luck manager. What's the one "big" game that even he can get something from these days? A victory against AC Milan in the San Siro. A deadbeat Milan, but all the wow-factor and history is still there. And that's what we're milking up today. Meanwhile, make no mistake, this tie is not over. It is easily within our grasp to fuck this up at home. So the dangerous talk of winning the tournament and being favourites is desperately premature. Let's just finish this game off first and not be the complacent, assuming team that has had its arse handed to it on too many occasions.

Do we want to win? What an indictment of the manager, that some fans would actually prefer to lose everything if it meant he goes. It's a horrible catch-22 for me. If he stays he might just ruin us for another decade, no matter who we bring in to replace him. And if he gets the slightest sniff of a reason to stay, he'll stay. And if he wins a Euro competition and gets us back in the CL you just know what the journos are going to write and what the fans are going to believe. We are in a terrible situation. We need to win, but we can't afford the catastrophic consequences of winning. How did we ever get to this?

So here we are. We've conquered European legends on their own famous patch and Wenger is back at the height of his powers. Says so in the papers so it must be true.

In reality we're still up to our necks in it. It's just we haven't drowned yet. If things go according to the boring and endless plan we go from triumph to calamity against Watford. Watford won't be sitting back and admiring us like Milan did, they'll be right in our faces. If the team stands up to that, THEN it will be signs of progress. The game last night though? It was a relief not to be humiliated. That's what most thought was going to happen going into the game. And that's what people are really talking about this morning I think. Relief.

Whew. We're still alive.

And that's what it comes to. That's what signifies success at this place. We're not dead yet.

That's the game I saw too

Still the same problems, just glazed over with EL honey.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Not being funny but Milan are rubbish, as expected though we're seeing nonsense coming out from Wenger and co about how wonderful we are, it's the usual BS we get after a mickey mouse win after an awful run, it's cringeworthy.

If anyone is feeling like this was a good achievement they need to have a word with themselves, you could predicted Milan were rubbish (I did) based on where they lie in a weak league so it's no surprise we won there.

Some people need a reality check.

Too true, one win and suddenly we are ok again and all is well.

Watch us lose to Watford and the pitchforks will be out and the meedja will be wondering what has gone wrong again.

[Cripps]

We didn't control a single moment of that game. Everything that's going on this morning is pure fantasy. It's the legacy media rallying (in relief) for their long standing mate Wenger, and the poor old fans lapping it up as usual.

Our midfield was useless. Jack had a shocker. Xhaka improved, but only because he started kicking people (which I heartily approve of, btw) and Ramsey was nothing at all, apart from one moment where he mysteriously retained his composure in front of goal - that bit was excellent. Otherwise we were beaten to the ball time and time again. We can't win headers in the middle. We always seem to be marking empty space when the ball bounces. It's such an easy job for the opposition to pick the ball up. Fortunately Milan didn't know what to do with it and rapidly gave it back.

Defensively we were a little better, but only because we had so much time. Milan didn't threaten up front except on the few occasions when they casually passed through us, which any team can seemingly do at will these days. Kos and Mustafi were supposed to be back to their best, but what really happened is they ran around a lot, dashing to cover spaces they should already have been covering in the first place. Chambers is being lauded for being not as bad as people thought he was going to be. Kolasinac has lost all the fire he had when he joined and now looks like a very average player. AMN was by far the best and most composed player when he came on. That's because he hasn't had enough time in Wenger's system yet and still retains the basics of the game.

Ozil and Mikki were okay, mainly because they were under so little pressure and had so much time on the ball. Ozil's pass for the second goal was great, of course. Welbeck was the ongoing comedy sketch that we all know and would even love (if he were playing for somebody else). The pundits are genuinely trying to pretend he played well. It's hard to imagine anyone could buy into it, but it seems people are.

Anyway, that's what actually happened. For some reason Gattuso played the ideal game for us. No pressure. No pressing. No pace. We were all set up to sit back and soak it up, which we wouldn't have managed at all if Milan had anything about them. As it turned out, by accident, these were the perfect tactics because we have talented enough players to at least make a few chances and last night those players managed to take the chances rather than fluff them. So Wenger was probably the star of the night, by pure luck.

He's a very luck manager. What's the one "big" game that even he can get something from these days? A victory against AC Milan in the San Siro. A deadbeat Milan, but all the wow-factor and history is still there. And that's what we're milking up today. Meanwhile, make no mistake, this tie is not over. It is easily within our grasp to fuck this up at home. So the dangerous talk of winning the tournament and being favourites is desperately premature. Let's just finish this game off first and not be the complacent, assuming team that has had its arse handed to it on too many occasions.

Do we want to win? What an indictment of the manager, that some fans would actually prefer to lose everything if it meant he goes. It's a horrible catch-22 for me. If he stays he might just ruin us for another decade, no matter who we bring in to replace him. And if he gets the slightest sniff of a reason to stay, he'll stay. And if he wins a Euro competition and gets us back in the CL you just know what the journos are going to write and what the fans are going to believe. We are in a terrible situation. We need to win, but we can't afford the catastrophic consequences of winning. How did we ever get to this?

So here we are. We've conquered European legends on their own famous patch and Wenger is back at the height of his powers. Says so in the papers so it must be true.

In reality we're still up to our necks in it. It's just we haven't drowned yet. If things go according to the boring and endless plan we go from triumph to calamity against Watford. Watford won't be sitting back and admiring us like Milan did, they'll be right in our faces. If the team stands up to that, THEN it will be signs of progress. The game last night though? It was a relief not to be humiliated. That's what most thought was going to happen going into the game. And that's what people are really talking about this morning I think. Relief.

Whew. We're still alive.

And that's what it comes to. That's what signifies success at this place. We're not dead yet.

shirking

[Letters]

We didn't control a single moment of that game. Everything that's going on this morning is pure fantasy. It's the legacy media rallying (in relief) for their long standing mate Wenger, and the poor old fans lapping it up as usual.

I don't know what is "going on" this morning, but I saw the game.
I felt we were pretty much controlling it. You don't, fine. Agree to disagree.

I have heard literally no-one say we are suddenly favourites for the tournament. The tie yes, it was be a colossal balls us (not beyond us) to not progress, but the tournament no, who is saying that?
And who is saying that Wenger is back to the height of his powers? Personally, I'm just pleased we won. It was a game I'd have been happy with a draw from.
AC Milan may not be the force they once were but neither are we. AC Milan hadn't lost in 13, they hadn't lost in 2018. We had lost 5 of our last 6.
I think literally no-one thinks this win means all is well. You're arguing against a position which no-one takes. OK, maybe a few morons, like Ty. But very few.

As I said, the dream scenario is for us to win the Europa League and Wenger to go out with some scrap of dignity intact. I doubt either will happen, but one can dream.

[HCZ]

If we win and Wenger leaves, great. But do you see Wenger walking away? Also, they could still offer him a new contract and not sack him if we win it. We're in bad shape if I'm hoping for a loss just to see him sacked and would even take a loss in a cup final to see that happen. That's bad. I'm not watching games like I used to. I refuse to go the Emirates for any game despite being offered tickets. If this goes on any longer it come to the point where I won't watch or follow at all.

How could I say I support Arsenal if it gets to that? I'm on the edge already and not the only one. If he gets another contract the disgust I'd have for this club would be overwhelming. It's bad enough being in a position where we're having to hound Wenger out. Arsene Wenger! I hate to see fans bad mouthing legends like Adams, Dixon, Keown, Wright, Henry....it's really bad and goes to show that it runs deeper than a lack of trophies.

I’m not sure I’d stop supporting the club if he got a contract but it’d be a token thing. I’d probably just try and take more interest in a smaller local team.

I think I’d only actively consider myself no longer an Arsenal in the very unlikely event that we were owned by Usmanov